426 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



WHEAT FALLING OFF 



Wheat Las fallen from second to fourth in order of value, and 

 is worHi ^000,000,000. The estimate of the Depart nient places the 

 j)roductiou this year at 056,000,000 bushels, an amount that would 

 have been much exceeded had weather conditions been more favor- 

 able and less Hessian fly. This country produced one-fifth of the 

 world's wheat cro]) during the last five years, and contributed about 

 one-eighth of the world's exports. The world's wheat crop is about 

 3,162,000,000 bushels, and is about two bushels apiece for the world's 

 people. 



Wheat is one of the most important grains known to man. Al- 

 though wheat was not known in this hemis7)here before Columbus 

 came, our continent now produces more wheat than any of the other 

 grand divisions of the globe. We send millions of bushels of wheat 

 annually across the Atlantic, and, with the exception of cotton, we 

 get more for our wheat from foreign countries than for any other 

 crop. 



In Minnesota and the Dakotas there is a region known as the Red 

 River Valley which might be called the "Bread Basket of North 

 America." The wheat farms there are of vast extent and are man- 

 aged on a grand scale. 



Kansas has for several years held the honor of being the greatest 

 wheat-producing state in the Union. North Dakota ranks second 

 among the wheat-producing states, and has immense farms in the 

 valley of the Red River, in some instances, containing as many as 

 80,000 acres. Each of these is operated under a highly developed sys- 

 tem, and in summer often employs from 200 to .300 men. 



The soil of North Dakota ik a rich alluvial loam, ranging from 

 six inche-s to three feet, with a clay subsoil that retains the natural 

 moisture. These conditions create the wonderful productivity that 

 has given the Dakotas a world-Avide fame. On the irreat "bonanza 

 farms" ' the eastern counties may be seen grain fields often miles 

 in extcur, and in harvest time, with the long line of reapers sweejving 

 across u ypl'itw set of standini; grain, they present a scene that fills 

 the mind nf the on-looker with admiration. 



The largest T>ercentage of acreage in Minnesota is devoted to the 

 cultivation of its wheat crop, and the state ranks third in the value 

 of its whent f^rop. 



Across tlifi border line from Minnesota into Canada we find about 

 4.000 squiire miles of the richest wheat land in the world. The 

 deposits of clay and silt left by the receding Lake Agassiz. overlaid 

 by from two to four feet of blaok vegetable mold, arf the fertile 

 wheat lands of Manitoba. The soil is a rich, deep loam resting on a 

 deep clay subsoil. It is well adapted to wheat growing. In 1902, 

 when the harvest was exceptionally good, the yield of the province 

 averaged 26 bushels to the acre. 



HARVE^^TING ON A GREAT WHEAT FARM 



On the immense wheat farms of the Pacific Coast, the most elabo- 

 rate devices have been called into play to serve the grain growers 

 It is only these states of the Far Wert that there can be seen in 

 operation the combined harvester and thresher, a miracle of modern 



